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WrestleMania XXVI
WrestleMania XXVI was the twenty-sixth annual WrestleMania pay-per-view event produced by World Wrestling Entertainment (WWE), which took place on March 28, 2010 at the University of Phoenix Stadium in the Phoenix suburb of Glendale, Arizona. WrestleMania XXVI was an interpromotional event, featuring performers from all three WWE brands: Raw, SmackDown and ECW. Including two matches on the Countdown pre-show, eleven matches were featured on the event's card. Four matches on the card were promoted as main events. The first of these matches was the main event of the Raw brand for the WWE Championship between champion John Cena and Triple H. The main event of the SmackDown brand was a Fatal 4-Way match for the World Heavyweight Championship, with Randy Orton defending the title against CM Punk, Edge and Batista. In the main event of the ECW brand, the ECW Champion Christian defended his title against Jeff Hardy. An interpromotional main event match also took place between Raw's Bobby Lashley and The Big Show from SmackDown billed as the "Battle of the Billionaires", which also featured Donald Trump, Mr McMahon and special guest referee Stone Cold Steve Austin. Two other matches from the Raw brand were featured bouts: Kurt Angle versus Shawn Michaels, advertised as Angle's final professional wrestling match, and Chris Jericho versus The Undertaker. Background WWE Champion John Cena vs. Triple H At Royal Rumble, Triple H outlasted 39 opponents to win the Royal Rumble match. The following night on Raw, Triple H did not delay in selecting which champion he would select to challenge at WrestleMania, choosing WWE Champion John Cena. Triple H pointed out that he did not receive a rematch following his loss to Cena at SummerSlam when he lost the World Heavyweight Championship. On the February 15 episode of Raw, Raw General Manager William Regal presided over the contract signing for their match. Following the signing, Triple H assaulted Cena with a punch to the eye. Cena appeared on the following week's Raw ''with a black eye as a result. After Triple H's win over Bobby Lashley, Cena returned the favour and struck Triple H over the head with his championship belt. On the March 1 episode of ''Raw, Regal announced that Cena and Triple H would both select each other's opponents for the night in "Pick Your Poison". Both men lost their respective matches, Cena to The Big Show, and Triple H to Shelton Benjamin, with the latter due to Cena's interference. Not willing to risk the WrestleMania main event being ruined, Regal invoked a zero tolerance policy between the two wrestlers, losing their main event status if they disobey the ruling. During the March 22 episode of Raw, Regal forced Cena and Triple H to team up in a match against Ted DiBiase and MVP, which they won. With an agreement in place between the brand general managers to promote WrestleMania, for the last two weeks leading up to the event wrestlers were able to appear on all shows. This led to a six-man tag team match booked by SmackDown General Manager Bret Hart with Cena and Triple H on opposing sides. With Regal's policy still in place, whenever Cena was tagged into the match, Triple H had to leave it and vice versa. World Heavyweight Champion Randy Orton vs. CM Punk vs. Batista vs. Edge (Fatal 4-Way match) At Elimination Chamber, Randy Orton successfully defended the World Heavyweight Championship against CM Punk, partially due to the use of an exposed turnbuckle. Also at the event, Batista would win the Elimination Chamber match to become the challenger for the title at WrestleMania, last eliminating Edge who claimed that his shoulder was off the mat before the three-count was made. Due to the controversial endings to both matches, on the February 26 episode of SmackDown, SmackDown General Manager Bret Hart booked a Triple Threat match between the affected wrestlers, Batista, CM Punk and Edge, with Orton as the special guest referee. Edge won the match following interference from Curt Hawkins and Zack Ryder. Annoyed at the outcome, Hart announced that the SmackDown main event for WrestleMania would be a Fatal 4-Way match for the title. ECW Champion Christian vs. Jeff Hardy On the February 2 episode of ECW, ECW General Manger Tiffany Terrell announced that the challenger for the ECW Championship at WrestleMania would be determined via the "Elimination Chase to WrestleMania" series. Battle of the Billionaires match Match text Kurt Angle vs. Shawn Michaels Match text The Undertaker vs. Chris Jericho Match text Money in the Bank ladder match Match text Event Countdown The first of two matches on Countdown featured a 26-man battle royal featuring wrestlers from all three brands to determine who would challenge Umaga during the pay-per-view for the United States Championship. Immediately after eliminating Finlay, Carlito was then eliminated by Kane to win the match. The second match on Countdown was a ten-Diva tag team match, which featured the new Women's Champion Melina, Beth Phoenix and Maryse from Raw teaming with Victoria and Jillian Hall from SmackDown against Gail Kim, Mickie James and Michelle McCool from Raw, and Eve Torres and Kelly Kelly from SmackDown. Melina performed a Primal Scream on Kelly to win the match. Pay-per-view The pay-per-view opened with the sixth annual Money in the Bank ladder match, which featured ten wrestlers from all three brands. It started off with every wrestler trying to incapacitate each other long enough to climb and retrieve the briefcase. In between Mr Kennedy was stuck in between a ladder with Rey Mysterio and Kofi Kingston hitting him with two ladders of their own. Another instance was when Evan Bourne performed Air Bourne on Ted DiBiase from a vertically placed ladder wedged between another and the middle rope. The match came to an end when Martin hit Shelton Benjamin with the Money in the Bank briefcase and unhooked it to win the match. Next, was a six-person mixed tag team match for the WWE Tag Team and Divas Championships between The Hart Dynasty (Tyson Kidd, David Hart Smith and Natalya) and The Gatecrashers (The Miz, Dolph Ziggler and Alicia Fox). As the trios both held a title each, one title was guaranteed to change hands. Kidd and Smith performed a Hart Attack on Ziggler to win the match (Natalya retained the Divas title, Smith and Kidd won the Tag Team title). Backstage, the Hart Dynasty celebrated their victory with SmackDown General Manager Bret Hart. The third match on the pay-per-view was between Umaga and Kane for the United States Championship. After a dominant display by Kane, Umaga retaliated and performed a Samoan Spike to win the match and retain the title. Following that, The Undertaker fought Chris Jericho. Jericho's Intercontinental Championship was not defended in the match. After a back-and-forth exchange between the two wrestlers, Undertaker countered a Lionsault and performed a Tombstone Piledriver to win the match and extend his WrestleMania streak to 18-0. In the main event of the ECW brand, Christian defended his ECW Championship against Jeff Hardy next. The bout was evenly matched throughout with neither wrestler managing to gain the advantage for long. The end came when Hardy accidentally knocked the referee out of the ring. When Christian attempted to use the championship belt as a weapon, Matt Hardy made his return after being injured by Christian. He distracted Christian long enough for Jeff to perform a Twist of Fate and a Swanton Bomb to win the title. This win signified Hardy's first world championship in WWE. Following that was the presentation of the 2010 WWE Hall of Fame inductees: "The Million Dollar Man" Ted DiBiase, Stu Hart, Antonio Inoki, Wendi Richter, Maurice "Mad Dog" Vachon, Gorgeous George and Bob Uecker. After that, Kurt Angle fought Shawn Michaels in Angle's farewell match. At the start of the match, both wrestlers engaged in a series of counters. Later, Michaels attempted a Sweet Chin Music, but stopped in the process and Angle capitalised by trapping him in an Ankle Lock. Afterward, Michaels finally delivered a Sweet Chin Music to Angle for a near-fall. On the outside of the ring, Michaels dove off the ropes on to Angle and both crashed through the Raw announce table. The match concluded with Michaels performing another Sweet Chin Music to win the match. After the match, Michaels left quickly and Angle received a standing ovation from the crowd. An emotional Angle embraced his family at ringside and thanked the crowd for their support. The next match was the SmackDown brand main event, a Fatal Four-Way match for the World Heavyweight Championship. Randy Orton defended the title against Batista, CM Punk and Edge. During the match, Punk applied an Anaconda Vice on Orton but Edge broke the hold. Orton performed a RKO on Batista but Punk broke the pinfall. Edge performed a Spear on Punk but Orton broke up the pinfall. Towards the end of the match, Edge's associates Curt Hawkins and Zack Ryder appeared and distracted Batista. Batista picked off both men, however the distraction let Edge prepare and perform a Spear on Batista through the ringside barricade. In the ring, Orton performed a RKO on Punk to retain the title. Following that was the "Battle of the Billionaires" match, as SmackDown wrestler The Big Show (accompanied by Mr McMahon) fought Raw wrestler Bobby Lashley (accompanied by Donald Trump). Stone Cold Steve Austin served as the special guest referee. As agreed pre-match, if Lashley won, Trump would gain ownership of the Raw brand. If Big Show won, Trump would have his head shaved bald. Midway through the match, Austin was attacked by Big Show, causing him to become incapacitated and was taken out of the match for several minutes. Raw General Manager William Regal, who attempted to replace him as referee, called the match while being biased towards Big Show. After Big Show got a near-fall on Lashley, Austin pulled Regal out of the ring, gave him a Stunner, and continued refereeing the match. Lashley won the match after a Stunner from Austin and a Dominator. After the match, Lashley, Trump and Austin celebrated in the ring, with both McMahon and Regal stunned at having lost the Raw brand to Trump. In the final match of the pay-per-view, and the Raw brand main event, John Cena defended the WWE Championship against Triple H. The match was evenly matched with both men getting the advantage over each other. Triple H attempted a Pedigree, but Cena countered with an Attitude Adjustment for a near-fall. Cena applied the STF but Triple H reached the ropes. Triple H tried another Pedigree, but was countered into the STF again by Cena, to which Triple H submitted, meaning Cena retained the title. Cena celebrated his victory in the ring as pyrotechnics went off in and around the stadium and the show came to an end. Match results Notes 1 The other wrestlers in the battle royal were, in order of elimination: Trevor Murdoch, Cody Rhodes, Jesse, Festus, Elijah Burke, Jimmy Wang Yang, Jamie Noble, Drew McIntyre, Shad, Chris Masters, Mike Knox, Kenny Dykstra, Hurricane Helms, Ezekiel Jackson, Brian Kendrick, JTG, Jack Swagger, Chavo Guerrero, R-Truth, Mark Henry, Hornswoggle, Daniel Bryan, The Great Khali and Finlay. 2 Hornswoggle was a replacement for Sheamus, who was boycotting WrestleMania due to losing a Money in the Bank qualifying match. 3 This was Kurt Angle's final match before retiring from professional wrestling. 4 As a result of Bobby Lashley winning, Donald Trump became the new owner of the Raw brand. Match card graphics To be inserted Category:WrestleMania Category:Events held in Arizona Category:2010 pay-per-view events Category:Interpromotional pay-per-view events